1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention generally relates to an electrical connector for a window pane of a vehicle. More specifically, the subject invention relates to an electrical connector having a unique composition that transfers electrical energy to an electrical conductor of the vehicle, such as a defogger, defroster, antenna, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical connectors are known in the art for use in vehicles. The connectors are metallurgically connected to and in electrical communication with an electrical conductor for transferring electrical energy to the conductor. More specifically, the conductors, which generally include silver, are operatively connected to a substrate that is formed from glass, such as a backlite or windshield of a vehicle. The conductors are commonly visible on window panes of vehicles and typically extend horizontally across the window panes. The conductors are generally defoggers, defrosters, and antennas.
Traditionally, the connectors include lead because lead is a deformable metal and minimizes mechanical stress between the connector and the substrate due to thermal expansion of the connector and the substrate resulting from changes in temperature. More specifically, differences in coefficients of thermal expansion cause the mechanical stress. Such thermal expansion may result in cracking or other damage to the substrate. Furthermore, the lead resists delamination from the conductor. However, it is known that lead may be considered an environmental contaminant. As such, there is a motivation in many industries, including the automotive industry, to move away from all uses of lead in vehicles.
Conventional materials have been proposed for replacing the lead in the connectors; however, such materials, such as copper, tend to delaminate from the conductor. Other conventional materials are not immune to mechanical stress between the connector and the substrate due to thermal expansion of the connector and the substrate resulting from changes in temperature, which tends to crack or otherwise damage the substrate. Because these other conventional materials are insufficient, there has been little movement in the automotive industry away from connectors including lead.
Although there has been development of various conductors for use in the window panes of vehicles, such developments have little applicability to electrical connector technology. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,396,026 discloses a laminated pane for a vehicle including an electrical conductor disposed between two glass panes. The electrical conductor includes a layered structure that may include titanium to provide rigidity to the electrical conductor. The electrical conductor is positioned in an interlayer between the panes. In this position, the electrical conductor is spaced from the glass panes. The titanium-containing conductor in the '026 patent cannot effectively function as a connector that connects a power supply to a conductor that is operatively connected to one of the glass panes. More specifically, the titanium is disclosed as a core of the conductor, with an outer surface including a more conductive metal such as copper. The titanium core with the outer surface including copper is ineffective for use as an electrical connector due to the presence of the copper because the copper would delaminate from the conductor due to mechanical stress between the copper and the glass pane due to thermal expansion of the copper and the glass pane resulting from changes in temperature.
Thus, there remains a need to replace connectors which include lead with a more environmentally-friendly alternative that can still reduce the mechanical stress between the connector and the substrate due to thermal expansion of the connector and the substrate resulting from changes in temperature, and further resist delamination from the conductor.